Contest I: DESIGN

DESIGN a Marine Energy Powered System

During the DESIGN Contest, participating teams submitted their designs of prototype systems that could be used for hurricane monitoring. Competitors were encouraged to submit more than one design concept, so long as it was materially different from the other submissions.

Congratulations on the DESIGN Contest Winners!

At the end of the DESIGN Contest, seven winners were announced, and awarded part of the $400,000 cash prize pool:

• Autonomous Marine Power System (Sacramento, California)
• EEL Drone (Los Angeles, California)
• Halona WEC Based Mobile AUV Docking Station (Honolulu, Hawaii)
• Maiden Wave Energy Rover (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• Platypus Prowler (West Palm Beach, Florida)
• Thaumas — God of the Wonders of the Sea (Menlo Park, California)
• Wave Powered Oceanographic Gliders (Tallahassee, Florida)

The winners of the DESIGN Contest were also invited to participate in the next phase in the DEVELOP Competition, the BUILD Contest, where they built experimental wave-energy powered ocean observing prototypes that they later tested at the Maneuvering and Seakeeping Basin—also known as the U.S. Navy’s indoor ocean—located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s facility in Carderock, Maryland.

Team Wave Powered Oceanographic Gliders studies their early-stage prototype design. Credit: NREL